Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Know Thy Self and Thy Colleagues
As a company, we are always reading a book together that focuses on either leadership principals or honing managment skills. This month it has been Strengths Finder 2.0 (Gallup Press, 2007) which reminds us to focus on our areas of strength and not on all the inevitable weaknesses we possess. Even if you know yourself pretty well you might not always take the time to contemplate why you feel the way you do about another person or what causes you to react to things the way you do. Knowing what makes you (and your colleagues) tick is valuable information. You see your strengths play out everyday and not only can you better anticipate what others around you will say/do, but you can also work together to outsource - thereby overcoming - weaker traits. If you and those close to you professionally have not been through this exercise together, I highly recommend it. After all, most of us spend more time with our co-workers than we do with our families...shouldn't it be as pleasant and productive as possible?
Monday, January 12, 2009
We Can Kill You with Kindness
Professional service firms (like our consulting business) are in an interesting position. Lawyers, accountants, consultants...we can all kill you with kindness. I talked with someone the other day who commented on how they were expecting me to get excited about their new concept and tell them what an extraordinarily good idea they had. While it was a good idea, they admitted to being a little discouraged when I tactfully pointed out some challenges, hurdles and problems with their plans. I had to remind this person that my role and responsibility is not necessarily to tell the client what they want to hear, but rather to assess all situations from all angles and point out areas for further discussion. Quite often those are tough conversations, but they are quite necessary and beneficial. So cheers to the lawyer who will keep you out of jail, the accountant who will keep the IRS at bay and the consultants who will help your business thrive!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
The Golden Rule
True story: one of my co-workers and I are staying at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee for a convention. We checked in last night around 9:30 p.m. and asked a bellman to take the luggage to our room. It wasn't a surprise when we beat the luggage, but we began to wonder about an hour later when our belongings still had not arrived.
We called down to the front desk to make sure everything was alright. They asked for our claim number, which we did not have (the bellman took the tag). They asked for a description of the luggage, which we provided. They promised to locate our things and deliver them as soon as possible. Another hour goes by. We call again and - you guessed it - they still had not found our bags. Several more calls later and the manager comes to the conclusion that our missing items must have been placed in someone else's room by mistake. Now, this is the Opryland Hotel. The place is larger than some small towns in Connecticut.
As is turns out, our bags arrived over two hours after we left them at the desk. They were sitting in a room down the hall with a church pastor who did not have the common courtesy to call the bellman's desk and let him know that his room was filled with luggage that wasn't his. Why? We will never know.
This causes me to wonder how many of us practice what we preach (pardon the pun) when we're not "on duty". Do I only give good advice when I'm at work or do I help others when I'm not *officially* retained? Would an auto mechanic stop to help a stranded driver on the side of the road because he can?
So I guess this blog entry isn't so much about the mistake of the bellman (although it was certainly inconvenient); it's about the church pastor who didn't alert the staff that he had someone else's things in his room. It was past midnight when our toothbrushes and laptop arrived. Did he consider what God would do in his situation? It's not for me to say, but the business advice of the day is "practice what you preach". I'm not just Jennifer, I'm a consultant and people I come in contact with expect me to give good advice all the time. The church pastor represents his church and his faith even when away from home a hotel. A doctor is always a doctor. Any others with experiences in this arena?
We called down to the front desk to make sure everything was alright. They asked for our claim number, which we did not have (the bellman took the tag). They asked for a description of the luggage, which we provided. They promised to locate our things and deliver them as soon as possible. Another hour goes by. We call again and - you guessed it - they still had not found our bags. Several more calls later and the manager comes to the conclusion that our missing items must have been placed in someone else's room by mistake. Now, this is the Opryland Hotel. The place is larger than some small towns in Connecticut.
As is turns out, our bags arrived over two hours after we left them at the desk. They were sitting in a room down the hall with a church pastor who did not have the common courtesy to call the bellman's desk and let him know that his room was filled with luggage that wasn't his. Why? We will never know.
This causes me to wonder how many of us practice what we preach (pardon the pun) when we're not "on duty". Do I only give good advice when I'm at work or do I help others when I'm not *officially* retained? Would an auto mechanic stop to help a stranded driver on the side of the road because he can?
So I guess this blog entry isn't so much about the mistake of the bellman (although it was certainly inconvenient); it's about the church pastor who didn't alert the staff that he had someone else's things in his room. It was past midnight when our toothbrushes and laptop arrived. Did he consider what God would do in his situation? It's not for me to say, but the business advice of the day is "practice what you preach". I'm not just Jennifer, I'm a consultant and people I come in contact with expect me to give good advice all the time. The church pastor represents his church and his faith even when away from home a hotel. A doctor is always a doctor. Any others with experiences in this arena?
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Tough Times for Small Businesses
These are tough times for small businesses. Just consider the trickle down effect: a large business in town is forced to layoff employees, the former employees are no longer able to buy goods and services and they get behind on their bills. The result for the small business is decreased sales and receivables that are difficult to convert to cash. Loans are more difficult to obtain and credit card interest rates (how many businesses get started) begin to skyrocket due to the nationwide default rate. No doubt about it, these are tough times.
The important thing for small businesses in this environment to remember is to focus on what you can control. You can't control whether or not the large employer in town must layoff workers and you usually can't influence the immediate buying habits of the affected employees. What you can focus on is securing a larger piece of a shrinking pie. Sure there may not be as many buyers out there - but people are spending money. Your job is to give them an emotional, compelling reason to spend some of that money with you.
The important thing for small businesses in this environment to remember is to focus on what you can control. You can't control whether or not the large employer in town must layoff workers and you usually can't influence the immediate buying habits of the affected employees. What you can focus on is securing a larger piece of a shrinking pie. Sure there may not be as many buyers out there - but people are spending money. Your job is to give them an emotional, compelling reason to spend some of that money with you.
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